JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Ocean Pines Association Vice President Steve Tuttle discusses referendum possibilities during an elections committee meeting last Friday.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Jan. 17, 2019) A few eyebrows were raised last Monday, when General Manager John Bailey publicly said the proposed 2020 general administration budget included a $10,000 increase for a potential referendum.

“That remains to be seen whether or not that would take place, but there certainly has been a lot of conversation about conducting a referendum – for a variety of issues,” Bailey said during a Jan. 7 work session with the budget and finance committee.

Resident Joe Reynolds at the time told Bailey the comment struck him as curious.

“I have attended virtually every board meeting. I don’t remember a referendum being mentioned for any reason,” he said. “Maybe that’s going on behind the scenes.”

Bailey said a recent communitywide survey included a question on whether homeowners would support a referendum to change association rules and allow for fines to be imposed in certain situations. Currently, Ocean Pines does not have the authority to issue fines for parking or other violations, and the declarations of restrictions would have to be changed in order to do so.

“It was upwards of 70-plus percent [who] were in favor of something like that in the survey,” Bailey said.

Association Vice President Steve Tuttle, during an elections committee meeting on Friday, also mentioned country club renovations or replacement as a potential referendum topic.

Asked by committee members what a referendum topic may be, Tuttle replied, “That’s to be determined.”

“There’s questions about declarations of restrictions. I think that’s going to go by the wayside,” he said.

As for the country club, Tuttle said a referendum would not be necessary if the total project cost were “less than 20 percent of the association assessment.” He said that amount was around $1.6 or $1.7 million.

Recent estimates for renovations to the country club’s second floor were about $1.6 million. Replacement costs have not been discussed publicly in some time, although Association President Doug Parks in 2016 cited an engineering report that claimed a smaller, 8,000-square-foot building would cost about $1.7 million.

“If we end up with the country club costing more than that threshold, then it has to go to referendum and be approved by the association members in order to proceed with the project,” Tuttle said. “Whether that will happen or not, I don’t know yet, but I’m hopeful that it won’t.”